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Roger Federer

Centre Court. — Seven-time champion Roger Federer ended the fairytale Wimbledon run of British qualifier Marcus Willis with an emphatic 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 victory on a packed Centre Court yesterday.

For once though, the storyline belonged to his opponent as the 772nd-ranked underdog Willis, the talk of the tournament so far, basked in the limelight on a day he will never forget.

Federer played the role of pantomime villain in a 25-minute first set as he denied Willis a game. But thereafter the 25-year-old Briton, cheered on by his friends at courtside, played a full part in some entertaining action under the show-court’s closed roof.

When Willis, who got through six qualifying rounds and then beat Ricardas Berankis in round one, finally got on the scoreboard in the second game of the second set the roar could be heard all over the grounds. He kept Federer on his toes with some audacious drop shots and slices and fought right to the end.

Federer looked a little relieved when he broke for a 5-4 lead in the third set and congratulated Willis warmly after his opponent sliced a final backhand long in the following game

Austrian tyro Dominic Thiem took sweet revenge on unseeded Florian Mayer, dodging the showers to dispatch the veteran German 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 in just over 1-1/2 hours of cut-and-thrust tennis.

Mixing his trademark power ground-strokes with drops-hots and deft touches at the net, the 22-year-old No. 8 seed broke his opponent once in each set in a first-round match that was twice interrupted by rain.

Mayer (32) beat the Austrian in their last grass-court encounter – the semifinals of the Halle tournament earlier this month, which the German went on to win.

Thiem wrapped things up on his first match point when Mayer hit a service return long, the Austrian having benefited earlier in the game from a service ace that Hawkeye showed had just clipped the centre line.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic racked up his 30th successive Grand Slam victory when he brushed aside Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) to reach the third round.

The defending champion, bidding for a third consecutive title at the All England Club and fourth in all, will face either American 28th seed Sam Querrey or Thomaz Bellucci for a place in the last 16. — AFP.